{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://defazio.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-defazio-introduces-bill-to-enforce-president-elect-trump-s-promise", "Rep. DeFazio Introduces Bill to Enforce President-Elect Trumps Promise to  Drain the Swamp"", "2016-12-08", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Peter DeFazio", "D000191", "defazio.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Peter DeFazio today introduced legislation that would codify a campaign promise made by President-Elect Trump to ban political appointees from profiting from their time in the Administration after they leave.\nThe DRAIN the SWAMP Act (Deter Revolving-Door Appointments in Our Nation; Stop Washington Appointees from becoming Manipulative Petitioners), H.R. 6476, would require a five-year ban, barring anyone who serves as a political appointee from lobbying for five years after they leave the Executive Branch. The bill would also permanently bar any individual appointed to the Trump Administration from lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.\n\u201cPresident-Elect Trump ran on the promise of \u2018Draining the Swamp,\u2019\u201d said Rep. Peter DeFazio. \u201cThe American people elected him with the expectation that he would bring a new way of doing business to Washington. I am introducing legislation to hold him and the thousands of political appointees accountable to those high standards.\u201d\nAlthough the President-Elect\u2019s transition team announced an intended ban on appointees becoming lobbyists for five years after they leave the White House, there is no penalty for violating the provision unless it is codified by Congress.\nBy law, current Administration appointees are barred from lobbying for two years after they leave the Executive Branch, with a penalty of up to one year in prison and/or a fine of $50,000. Under Rep. DeFazio\u2019s bill, if either the five-year lobbying ban or lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign nations is violated, offenders face up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000.\nRep. DeFazio will send the legislation to President-Elect Trump so he has an opportunity to endorse the bill ahead of its re-introduction in the 115th Congress.\nTo watch Rep. DeFazio\u2019s floor speech on the DRAIN the SWAMP Act, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://defazio.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-defazio-introduces-bill-to-enforce-president-elect-trump-s-promise"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5305520500987768, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}